Thanksgiving has been and gone and you know what that means, right?
It’s nearly Christmas 2022!
But for many, Christmas can be a very stressful time of the year and often an incredibly unhealthy one. For vegans and non-vegans alike.
So I’m here to make it that bit easier for you by answering all of your questions on how to stay slim (and sane) during the holiday season, so you can prepare the best deliciously healthy vegan Christmas yet!
Click on a link below to get started…
How do you stay fit during the holidays?
How can I have a healthy (yet tasty) Christmas?
How do vegans survive Christmas?
What do vegans eat for Christmas dinner?
What is the best vegan roast?
Recipes for the best healthy vegan Christmas meal
How do you stay fit during the holidays?
Once the holiday season is in full swing, our regular routines get disrupted…
Family Christmas activities. Wrapping gifts. Trying to get as much work out of the way as possible before the holidays start. Watching Elf for the tenth time. Creating Christmas decorations with the kids. Attending the work Christmas party on Zoom.
Many of us struggle to find time to do fitness during the holidays. But it can be done!
So here are my steps to help you stay fit this Christmas:
Step 1. Make fitness goals
Remember those SMART goals I talked about in the Ultimate Guide to Vegan Health & Fitness?
Well, start off by setting yourself some fitness goals – what do you want to achieve over the Christmas period? This will help you set some attainable achievements to keep you motivated when you wake up with a mulled wine hangover.
But when I say attainable, I mean it. Be kind to yourself, it is Christmas after all!
Step 2. Create a flexible schedule full of the exercises you love most
Create a schedule but don’t over plan.
The schedule is there to give you structure, so don’t worry if you have to cancel a few sessions or change them around a bit.
Oh, and prioritize the exercises you love most! If you usually struggle to motivate yourself to run on a treadmill, then you sure as anything won’t want to do it during the Christmas holidays.
To ease the pressure of creating a fitness schedule, why not follow a ready-made fitness guide?
Step 3. Practice mindful eating
Rather than wolfing your dinner down while you watch TV, try to focus your attention on your eating.
Gain an awareness of what you are ingesting, from the planning stage to the shopping for ingredients, preparing, cooking, eating, and digesting.
According to Mindful, you can practice this by doing the following:
“Before you eat anything, think of how this food or choice will help you, allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation by respecting your own inner wisdom.”
However, don’t forget that there is no right or wrong way to eat food. Being mindful doesn’t mean missing out on the foods you love.
The positive aspects of eating can be purely for pleasure too! Don’t feel guilty for washing your box of chocolates down with a glass of eggnog.
By being mindful during the holidays, you can appreciate your vegan Christmas meals even more and prevent yourself from overeating.
How can I have a healthy (yet tasty) Christmas?
Preparation is key!
First, do some research about food, healthy plant-based meals, and nutrition by checking out my blogs:
- The Importance of Plant-Based Protein in Fitness
- The Importance of Carbohydrates (and why you need to be eating them)
- The Awesome Health Benefits of Edamame Beans
- Healthy and Tasty Vegan Meals You Need to Try Right Now
- A Guide to Heart-Healthy Foods (Vegan-Friendly)
- Healthy Meals to Eat Before a Workout (Vegan-Friendly)
- The Amazing Health Benefits of Berries for Beauty and Body
- Justine’s Nutritious Green Smoothie (Vegan Recipe)
Next, plan your Christmas meals in advance and make sure you are incorporating lots of whole foods and fresh fruit and veg!
Got an unhealthy meal planned? No problem! Simply make sure you make up for it by eating lots of healthy food for the rest of the day.
But healthy doesn’t have to be untasty.
Scroll down to discover some of the best deliciously healthy vegan Christmas meals.
How do vegans survive Christmas?
With a lot of patience, especially if you’re in the company of those who are averse to your vegan lifestyle choices.
Here are three top tips to surviving the holidays and maintaining your well-being from the Vegan Sisters:
- Communicate
Being open and honest with your family and friends about how you feel is key to lowering your stress levels at Christmas. Knowing how to calmly respond to any questions or non-vegan excuses will help you survive the meal-time interrogation.
- Prepare your own Christmas food
Whip up a delicious vegan feast or prepare a tray of plant-based appetizers to bring to that Christmas party. You’ll keep yourself nourished and maybe impress a few people along the way.
- Support vegan charities/campaigns
Approximately 45 million turkeys are killed every year for Thanksgiving feasts alone. Now think how many are killed for Christmas. To make a difference and promote your well-being in the process, why not donate to an animal sanctuary, like Farm Sanctuary or Mercy for Animals?
What do vegans eat for Christmas dinner?
Everything non-vegans eat but using plant-based alternatives.
From a vegan roast to the plant-based gravy, festive tarts, indulgent desserts, ice cream, vegan cheese boards, and even pigs-in-blankets.
Check out this amazing list of vegan alternatives for everything!
And scroll down to find some delicious Christmas recipes suitable for those following a plant-based diet.
What is the best vegan roast?
We vegans are spoiled with choices nowadays! There are plenty of vegan roasts on the market.
But which one is the best?
Here’s a list of some plant-based roasts that will inspire any carnivore to go vegan:
1. Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute – Field Roast
Sausage stuffing infused with hazelnut, crystallized ginger, and cranberries. All wrapped in delicious puff pastry.
2. Holiday Roast – Gardein
Gardein is well-known amongst vegans and makes lots of tasty meat alternatives. This Holiday Roast is full of wild rice and cranberry stuffing and even comes with homestyle gravy!
3. Plant-Based Roast and Gravy – Tofurky
A seitan and tofu roast with wild rice and bread crumb stuffing topped off with some savory gravy. Yum!
Recipes for the best healthy vegan Christmas meal
Following a healthy plant-based diet doesn’t mean that we have to sacrifice flavor this Christmas.
There are so many vegan Christmas recipes that are both tasty and nutritious.
Luckily, Nutriciously has put together the Ultimate List of Simple + Healthy Vegan Christmas Recipes. Try some of the recipes out and let me know how you get on!
Happy Holidays!
